Hydro-Québec wants to more than triple wind production in the province within 10 years. Its CEO, Michael Sabia, believes that social acceptability is “the key to success” of this ambition. In a sector of Montérégie, a new project is well received where citizens are used to living alongside wind turbines.
Behind Jean-Guy Hamelin’s beige house are fields of various crops in which six 4 megawatt wind turbines stand. The closest is 850 meters from his residence, says the mayor of the municipality of Saint-Michel.
“This is the Cultures wind project, inaugurated two years ago. There are three in Saint-Rémi and the three furthest away are in Saint-Michel,” he explains. In the distance, we can see a park of 44 smaller wind turbines, inaugurated in 2012.
Mr. Hamelin speaks with great enthusiasm about these machines which now shape the landscape of his region. “It’s green energy and a new source of income for municipalities,” says the farmer, as he takes the farmer on a short guided tour. Duty.
“For us, it represents around $160,000 per year, which is equivalent to [aux taxes] of 75 residences,” explains the mayor, speaking of the Cultures project. A residence, which pays on average $2,200 in taxes per year, takes up much more space than a wind turbine, he points out.
Landowners also benefit, with royalties of more than $6,200 per installed megawatt. “For the first project, 22 owners signed an agreement [pour accepter une éolienne sur leur terrain], and 7 finally got it. The others were very disappointed,” says Mr. Hamelin.
Everything is done to reduce the loss of agricultural land, he says, in particular by installing them near the boundary of each lot. Construction takes up a lot of space, he admits. “We have to pass trucks with cranes and cement, it’s like a highway and a whole construction site,” says the person who witnessed the operation. But the arable land was removed from this area during the work and was recultivated, with the exception of a concreted space under the wind turbine, a parking space and a path with a width of two cars, used for maintenance workers and by the farmer for his production. A committee made up of elected officials and farmers carries out tests for seven years to check whether the soil is performing as well as before.
As for the various nuisances, Mr. Hamelin considers that they are minimal. First, the residences have not lost any value. Then, the noise of wind turbines is comparable to that of a refrigerator, a microwave oven or a fan, less disturbing than cars driving on a busy road, he believes. Directly under the wind turbine, The duty was able to observe that it produced a background noise which is reminiscent of air passing through a tube. The mayor says he almost never hears it from home.
The wind turbines, whose total height is around 200 meters, are topped with a device which calculates the optimal orientation of the blades to capture the wind. Mr. Hamelin indicates that the stroboscopic effect, which citizens are often afraid of, only rarely occurs. “It takes a sunset and the blades angled in a specific way. And it lasts for the length of a song,” he says.
Few waves
New wind turbines will soon be added to those in place. In a half-empty community hall in the heart of the village of Saint-Michel, around forty people gathered on May 9 for one of the four information sessions for the Les Jardins wind project. For about fifteen minutes, the developer, Kruger Énergie, presented details on the economic benefits, the timeline and the approximate locations projected for the 21 7 megawatt wind turbines whose construction is scheduled to begin in 2027. The municipal community and owners The landowners will share $74 million over the lifespan of the project, i.e. a minimum of 30 years, it is explained.
The project is called Les Jardins. Here, a large part of Quebec’s vegetables are grown. I wish we would plant trees instead of steel
After the presentation and three questions about the height of the wind turbines, the route of burying the wires and the ownership of the project, the meeting ends. The whole thing lasted about half an hour, in complete calm. Here, the project is far from making waves. At the exit, citizens stated that they were not opposed to it “if it is done well”. “We’re used to it. In Saint-Isidore, we see them, the wind turbines,” says a lady.
This does not mean that all residents have wind turbines in their hearts. Yvon Potvin opposed their arrival more than ten years ago. “The project is called Les Jardins. Here, a large part of Quebec’s vegetables are grown. I wish we would have planted trees rather than steel,” he commented. He would also have appreciated a citizen consultation taking place with independent experts, before the projects are selected by Hydro-Québec. Mr. Potvin, however, recognizes that Kruger, which has developed all the projects in the sector, is a “good corporate citizen”.
“For the first project, we had the mission to inform people and be as transparent as possible. In two and a half years, we held 30 public meetings,” reports Jean Roy, senior vice-president and chief operating officer for Kruger Energy and Real Estate.
For Les Jardins, the company is beginning its impact studies on wildlife, the environment, the landscape and the inhabitants. It will keep citizens informed of developments at each stage, indicates Mr. Roy.
According to him, social acceptability comes from the fact that his team has proven itself in the region. “We say everything we do and we do what we say,” he says.
The mayor is convinced that in twenty years, Quebecers will be familiar with wind turbines and that they will be accepted everywhere.